


Photography 101

by MatiasTouhou



Category: Touhou Project
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 05:06:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8954797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MatiasTouhou/pseuds/MatiasTouhou
Summary: When Sanae realizes that she has no photos of her adventures in Gensokyo, she embarks on an adventure to fix it





	

**Author's Note:**

> One year more, here we are. In this ocassion, i'm your secret santa Raenbow! When I first receive your wishlist I was quite excited and worried, as I had a lot of ideas but didn't know which one choose. So after thinking a lot, I came up with this. It was quite fun to write! I would love to include more characters(and I had a lot of ideas involving Koishi and Satori, the fairies and Yukari) but alas, uni is merciless and I didn't have time. Hope you enjoy this!

Sanae Kochiya came to the sudden realization one cold December morning, after finding an old photo of her in a forgotten album: that she had spent almost ten years in Gensokyo but had never taken a photo of her new friends or adventures. It was a big mistake, a mistake that she was going to fix. She took all of her savings and went to the kappa village. She knew that a kappa named Nitori ran a camera shop, or that is as far as that crow, Aya, had told her. After talking with some kappas and walking more than she would have liked to, she managed to find the building. It was a small wooden building, near the gengu ravine. It was quite hidden and only a big sign(in Comic Sans, for Sanae disgrace) saying ¨Kawashiro Electronics We Sell and Buy photographic Material. Best price guaranteed¨ told her that it was, indeed, a shop.  
“Is it open?” asked Sanae. No one replied, but she entered nevertheless. Inside, she saw that Nitori(She thought that it must be her, but it could be any other kappa, as she didn’t really know her) was focused in a small device she was holding in her hands ”IS THE SHOP OPEN!?”  
The kappa got startled, but soon recovered her composure” Kawashiro Electronics is always open for an honorable client such as you, Shrine Maiden” replied, while opening a drawer of the old metal desk she used as a counter. ” May I help you with something, madam?”  
“First of all, don’t call me madam; I’m 25, not 50. Second, why do you use comics sans in your sign? “The engineer frowned after hearing this “Third, eh, I would like to buy a camera.“  
“Then you have come to the best place in Gensokyo!” She relaxed the first moment she heard a business opportunity “My cameras are the first choice for the majority of the crow tengu. Anything in particular? “  
“Ehh humm, no? I want a camera. A camera that takes photos.”  
“Yeah, that’s what cameras do” She stroke her chin for a few seconds “ I think that I know the perfect camera for you, come with me “ Sanae, that after all this time was still at the door, followed the owner around the establishment, until they reached a big cabinet where the kappa started searching. After a while, she took some little boxes, went to the counter and gestured the shrine maiden to come.  
“Okay, okay. Here we have the Kawashiro 2000K, a good camera for beginners. It has all the options of a professional camera, but with an automatic mode option, so you can take superb photos without really knowing what are you doing haha” She opened one box, taking out the camera inside and turning it on” Yes, it’s quite good, like you can see, look how clear the screen is. But! You can also have the Kappa 370E, the classic, the immortal Kappa camera. Hundreds of journalists used this camera back in the XX century, and it still does its job. Or you can always, of course, choose the KEP3SL, a” she talked, and talked, all while smiling, all while touching the camera’s buttons. Sanae soon stopped hearing what she was saying, overcome by the incessant, empty words of the blue haired woman.  
“That one, yes I want that one” _oh my goddess, stop talking_ she thought.  
“The KEI ¨Bolomey¨ 10? A good choice, indeed. Truly you are the descendant of the mighty goddess Suwako Moriya. It will be 100k, please. “  
“Perfe… “She was already opening her purse when a sudden, clear voice interrupted the transaction.  
“Ayayayaya, why would a wind Priestess ever need a Bolomey, I wonder“the voice belonged to Aya Shameimaru, the main (and only) redactor of the bunbunmaru newspaper.  
“To take photographs of excellent quality, of course. Don’t you agree, Sanae?” replied Nitori, clearly pissed off to see that her friend was meddling in what seemed a done deal. The other girl answered with a not very enthusiastic ¨yeah¨.  
Aya rolled her eyes”Oh wow, surely a complete ignorant would be able to take some good photos, yes. Please Nitori, give her a Kawashiro 1500. A bolomey, Nitori, a Bolomey”  
“Hey, you, I’m not a noob” Sanae pouted while crossing her arms “I’m quite good actually, I won a photography contest back in middle School. “  
“Ha! Then prove it. Here, you can use my camera” She threw her one of her cameras, that almost hit the floor due to the slow reaction of the miko”What are you waiting for? Take a photo, say so if you want me to pose.”  
“Wh”“  
“You have just told us that you won a contest. You must be able to take a good photo in any circumstances, no, like the real pro you are?” Aya was clearly having fun at Sanae’s cost.  
“Hmph. Yes of course, try to pose natural. “  
Before turning it on, Sanae spent some time looking at the camera. It was a small one, but surprisingly, digital. It was quite similar to the one she had back in the outside world, so she more or less knew how it worked, with the exception of a strange red button at the top left.  
“What does this button do? “  
“Oh it’s the one that activates the DOC, the Danmaku Optic Capturer. It’s what we use in our spellcards. “  
“Ahhh okay, here I go, say cheeseeee“Aya went to Sanae’s side to look above her shoulder. When the photo appeared, she started laughing out loud.  
“Hahahahaha its worse that I thought” Sanae pouted again after hearing such an offense to her person “But please don’t give me that look, focus in that ¨photo¨ you have just taken. It’s not even well framed. You are with me, right Nitori?” The kappa nodded”Good. And before you say, ¨Oh no it’s not so bad¨ let me show you a good photo. Pose, please and smile my dear priest. “  
Sanae did so, and waited while Aya did the photo, photo she showed her with a big grin in her face. Sanae didn’t like to admit it, but Aya’s photo was without doubt much, much better. While hers had Aya in the center of the composition, blocking the rest of the shop, Aya had put her in the left side, using the aisle as a leading line to center the viewer’s attention.  
“Sorry to interrupt, but are you going to buy the camera or not? I’ve got things to do. “  
“Yes, and put it in my account, with the usual stuff, five rolls to develop. “  
“What?” asked Sanae  
“Yes, and in exchange you will let met teach you photography” said Aya while looking at her nails.  
“What?” Sanae was dumbfounded  
Aya gave a quick glance to Sanae, then back to her nails, sighed, and finally looked straight to Sanae’s eyes, while she get closer and closer to her to the point their foreheads were almost in contact.  
“Look, Sanae. I’m not gonna lie, it really stresses me out when I see bad photos, moreover when I can’t make similar photos, but well done. And you know, Sanae, you go to quite exotic places far beyond my reach, like the moon. Don’t you think it will be sad, returning victorious from such an amazing mission and only having shitty photos to share? It’s worse than nothing” Aya was smiling, a smile that Sanae found quite eerie “So! I’m going to teach you! I like you, your intentions are honest and I don’t think you are hopeless. What do you think? You can say no, obviously, who I am to force the head priestess of the moriya shrine to do anyth… “  
“I accept! I’m quite honored of being your pupil, Lady Shameimaru” She tried to fake enthusiasm, because she knew quite well that she had no other option other than agreeing with Aya.  
“The honor is mine!” Aya patted Sanae’s back” See you tomorrow morning, five of clock. Read the manual of the camera. Bye! “And so she left flying, only leaving behind a black feather.  
“Hahaha good luck girl” Nitori also patted Sanae’s back” You are going to need it. But here’s your new camera, treat her well. I guess electricity does not reach your home, so don’t forget to come here to recharge it, free of charge. The manual’s inside, you have one year of free technical service; it does not include the developing of the photos. Have fun!”  
Sanae was absolutely baffled. She only wanted a camera, nothing more, but she had managed to offend a supernatural being in the process. But she thought that if she had managed to defend Gensokyo from an evil lunarian invasion, she would be able to do a photography camp. When she arrived at her home, she prayed, read the manual and went to sleep.  
She woke early, prepared the breakfast and waited to Aya. She came at the exact hour they had agreed.  
“Ohh, I didn’t expect you to be punctual. I’m glad” A quick smirk appeared in Aya’s face”And I see that you have all your equipment ready, can we go? If we don’t hurry, there won’t be enough light.”  
“Yes, yes let me finish this tea, and we can go wherever you want and do whatever you want, Aya” Sanae was sitting in the porch, enjoying the hot tea. It was a freezing December morning, and she was surprised to see that the journalist was only wearing a scarf and high stockings to protect her from the cold. _Youkai are truly supernatural beings_ , she thought. The rest was the usual attire, red tokin, white blouse with an autumn pattern, black skirt and a pair of getas that share the colour of the tokin. She had a small leather bag hanging from one of her shoulders, while in the other was a camera.  
“Of course, of course. It’s essential for a photographer to be in good physical condition, more than having good light. The latter can be solved, the former no.”  
“It’s essential for everything, you know.”  
“Ayayayaya, not false, not false but doesn’t mean that my words are less true.”  
Sanae rolled her eyes and finished her drink in a big gulp.  
“Good! Follow me” And so both of them took flight. While flying, Sanae checked all her gear, including a good chunk of ofudas, spellcards and diverse paraphernalia (if Aya’s stories were true, she had ended in quite a lot of danmaku battles, and Sanae didn’t expect to be spared of being involved in such ordeals), two extra batteries, the camera (it was a small camera, quite similar to the ones that she used back in the outside world) and it’s manual, some food and money.  
After a while, they reached the forest of magic, where Aya made a sign to Sanae to descend. They did so in a small clearing, where a big, western styled house stood. It was Alice’s house, if Sanae remembered well the descriptions that Reimu and Marisa made. The sun had yet to rise, but there was enough light to see the contours of the house.  
Just in time!” Aya said” We are going to have good light. Okay, lesson time” she got closer to Sanae” Go, go and try to take a photo” Sanae did so, but when she was going to shoot it, Aya touched her hand. She was startled by the sudden physical contact, so she almost dropped the camera” hey hey be careful, and don’t be afraid, I’m not gonna eat you” Sanae gave her a serious gaze” Ok, yesterday I was quite pushy, I must admit, but now I’m calmer, seriously. So! Lesson time. I’ve chosen this house because it has some neat elements, like the tower and the small garden in the backyard. It’s also quite long, so you need to be intelligent with the framing if you want to shoot it all, or to have a wide angle lens. But that later, now with perhaps the basic, the framing, are you listening to me my dear Sanae?” The girl in question was amazed by such passionate and honest talk. She had seen glimpses of it, when the reporter told her about the fresh news she had found in the day, but never something like this. _She truly loves photography_ she thought _and may my goddess protect me, because she also will never let me go_.  
“Eh, oh, yes of course I’m listening, keep talking.  
“Good, I know you read the manual yesterday; do you know how to put the grid?  
“Yes, it’s this button, no?” She remembered that it was one of the first things that the manual said, so she went to the menu and searched for the option. It displayed a white grid of three for three in the screen.  
“Oh yes, nice, Sanae, Nice. Look, one of the most basic techniques to frame well is the rule of the thirds. It basically says that you must try to put all the interesting stuff in the intersections or along the lines. Try to do so with the house! “  
Sanae tried, but the angle was quite bad, so she started moving around the building until she managed to find the right place, where she aligned the tower in the top right, while the roof followed one of the horizontal lines. After making some adjustments, she shot and showed the photo to Aya, a big smirk in her face.  
“Not bad, next time you can try to change the ISO or the exposition time so you can see something in the photo, not a black mole.”  
“What? It looked okay in the display. “  
“One of the first lessons you must learn is that what you see in the display is not the real photo you are going to take. I thought you knew it, miss competition winner! Oh don’t look me with that sour face.”  
“Hmph” was Sanae’s only answer, but it was enough for Aya, who gave back the camera to its owner, but this time she got behind Sanae, resting all her body in the miko’s back.  
“What are you doing?”  
“Teaching you photography! –she leaned more, her head above Sanae’s shoulders, her hands touching both of Sanae’s hands and the camera. She was surprised , as Aya hands were much softer and delicate than she had previously assumed” Here’s the ISO, that’s the easy way to make photos with almost no light, but I prefer leaving it at 100 and change better the shutter and the exposition time. The shutter is how open the lens are, and the exposition time is how much time, hence the name, they are open. That’s quite crucial in danmaku battles, but that will come later” She stopped talking, and focused in touching different buttons in the camera” Are you following me Sanae”Sanae nodded” Or do you want me to go slower?”  
“No, I’m fine, go ahead.”  
And so they did. The routine was always the same. Aya would ask Sanae to do a particular photo, check it and explain to Sanae its mistakes, show her how it would be done , and let her again do a photo , check it and so on until Aya was satisfied with the result. They stopped when the first sunray reached the clear. They decided (or Aya decided) to say hello to the puppeteer. They were to knock the door, but it opened before they had chance. As they entered, a doll pointed out where the wardrobe was first and the lounge later. There they found the owner of the house.  
“Hi, Alice “said Sanae  
“Good morning, Alice!” Aya said” Awake early as always”  
Alice didn’t reply at first, waiting to finish her tea before speaking” ¨Good morning, Aya. May I ask why have you been taking photos of my house along the moriya’s shrine maiden?”  
“I’m teaching her the basics of photography, and there’s no better place to start that your beautiful, unique house.”  
“Is that so?” Alice chuckled” Do you want some tea?” both of them said yes” I’ve got green, red, black…”  
“Black, please” was Aya answer  
“Green, and thanks.”  
After four or five minutes, the dolls came back with the teas and some pastries. The three drank in silence, until they heard a noise upstairs.  
“Is someone else here?” asked Sanae.  
“Marisa”Sanae tried to speak but Alice cut her off”Yesterday she helped me with a project until late, so she passed the night. Sanae tried once again to speak but she was again interrupted by Alice” Good Morning, Marisa.  
“uahhhgoodmorningAliwhoa who do we have here? “The magician was still in bed robes, her hair a mess and black dust covered her cheeks” Sanae and the crow.”  
“Yes, we were doing some photos inside” replied Sanae in a rush, before anyone could be able to interrupt her. For the third time.  
“And delivering the newspaper!” added Aya.  
“We? You too Sanae? I didn't know you took photos.“  
“I started yesterday, and Aya is ehh humm teaching me the basics, yeah that's it”  
Marisa raised her left eyebrow while whistling.  
“Learning from the devil itself, pheww Sanae, pheww. I hope you know what you are doing.  
Sanae was starting to get angry. Was it so strange that she wanted to learn photography? Also yeah Aya was quite scary last day at the shop, but this morning she had been nice, explained stuff to her with a lack of condescending that really surprised her. She still had some reserves, yeah of course but for the time being it was a pleasant experience.  
“Aya ya ya ya, magician” Aya replied, marking every syllable” What have I done to deserve being called the devil?”  
“It was a compliment! “  
“I don’t know how you manage to hit on any girl at the human village, if that’s what you consider a compliment!”  
“I have my secret techniques, crow.”  
When Marisa finished walking down the stairs, she picked up a chair and sat down with the rest. The four of them proceeded to have breakfast (It was the second time for Sanae, but Alice's biscuits were so good that she couldn’t help it) and made small talk. They discussed the mages' projects, the recent news; the winter that had come too early this year, how did Sanae end in Aya's tutelage... Suddenly, Aya got one of her cameras out.  
“Stay still” she ordered. She made two consecutive shots, then moved off the table and did three more” Good good now keep doing what you were doing yeah like that, nice, nice” One shot. She went back to her seat” Sorry about that, but it was now or never. By the way, Marisa, are you going today to the Scarlet Mansion?”  
“Actually, yes. I need to get some books” Upon hearing this, Alice looked at her with a grave expression” Eh hey it's for our investigation, Alice”  
“oh, I don't doubt it, Marisa.”  
“You will change your mind when I tell you that I’m gonna get "Magic Runes: An extensive guide by Brynn Maelar"  
Alice spat her tea” Patchouli owns that book?!?Oh I hate rich people” Alice managed to regain her composure” I will never defend, or promote stealing... Nor will I blame you if you do what you think is right.”  
“Nice, so are we good to go? It's getting late.”  
“Wait, you are coming along” said Marisa disconcerted.  
“wait, we are coming along” said Sanae at the same time.  
“Yes, of course. Why would I ask if not? And before you say anything, worry not because we will never publish any photo, Marisa, and worry not Sanae because we are not helping her with the stealing”  
Both humans tried to reply, but desisted right away, knowing that it was useless to argue with her. Aya Shameimaru, for her part was quite pleased to see that they had agreed happily to her plan. Marisa went upstairs to dress up and prepare everything for the expedition, while Alice, with the help of Aya cleaned up the table and Sanae took some photos. When everyone finished, they said goodbye to Alice and left for the Scarlet Mansion.

They reached the great lake around noon, but they needed another hour to reach the manor because they took a detour to reach it without being seen. There, Marisa explained the plan to them.  
“Listen well, pals” They were behind a tree, just 5 meters away from the exterior wall. Marisa drew a map of the mansion with a nearby branch” We are here, south wall. We must climb it, then run fifty meters to here” She made a big circle in the dirt”, climb to the upper floor using a vine, where I will open the window. Can you do it?”  
“Marisa, why don't we just fly? Isn't it easier than doing parkour? “  
“If we fly, we will be too exposed, anybody could see us. Doing it my way we can always hide behind a bush or something, and also, I’ve been doing this for 15 years, so let’s say I know which is the best way, no?”  
“Okay, okay we will jump like pros it that’s what you want, Marisa. Also, do they not have alarms of any kind? Entering through a window seems pretty straightforward for me.”  
“They tried to install it once, but it jumped all the time when the fairy maids opened the windows to ventilate the main building. Ah before I forget, I’m gonna cast a spell for you to muffle your footsteps, wait a minute.”  
“Oh that won’t be necessary” Aya spoke for the first time in the improvised tactical reunion” I can do it without magic, I will simply ask the wind not to reveal our sounds.”  
“What, you can do that?” replied Sanae.  
“Ayayayaya, I would be a disgrace as a tengu if I couldn’t do at least that.”  
“You two do whatever you want, I will trust my magic” she closed her eyes, muttered some words and opened” okay, I’m ready to go, talk with your wind and let’s get moving, it’s getting late.”  
When they finished with their preparations, Marisa counted until three and started running, Sanae and Aya behind. They got over the wall, rushed the 50 meters between the wall and the building, climbed the vine and entered through the window, that Marisa unlocked with a spell in a matter of seconds and entered the building. Sanae was the last to do so, as she had lost time in the wall, landing badly in the garden instead of rolling like the other two did.  
“Ah, ah, ah next time we will fly aahh” Sanae was panting” Give me a minute, please.”  
“I can’t believe you have stamina to exterminate us or danmaku battles but not for running 50 meters and climbing eight.”Aya told her.  
“Hmppppppf”was again Sanae’s only answer.  
They waited for her to recover, and then marched. The three of them walked long corridors, hiding in a room or around a corner when they heard a maid close. They did so for what seemed an eternity to Sanae, when suddenly after they opened the same looking door for the millionth time they reached the library.  
“Wow” It was the first time the miko saw it, and it really did justice to its legend. Thousands of books where kept there, in galleries at least 30 meters tall and so long that the eye couldn’t see the end. The upper floors were connected between them with small bridges. Sanae quickly did some photos, the same as Aya, that for the first time in the day, took her own cameras.  
“Yeah quite impressive. A pity the owner does really nothing with it. She could make it public and do an enormous favour to the magic community of Gensokyo…”  
Marisa started to search for the book she wanted, while the other two talked about composition techniques.  
“Look, you can use the arches to frame within the frame, it’s a good way to portray depth in your photo. Photos are inherently 2D, so you must ¨cheat¨ to make the viewer believe it’s 3D”Aya said” You can also try to include some foreground interest, like those tables or even a person, your blonde friend for example.”  
“Aha! Here it is, ¨Magic Runes: An extensive guide¨ pretty boy you are.” Marisa held a small book, of perhaps 300 pages.  
“For being an extensive guide, it’s quite a small book” Sanae remarked.  
“It was one of the first guides ever made about runes” Marisa flipped some pages until she found the one she wanted” and because of that, it has a lot of info about mixed runes, before magicians came to the conclusion that it was a dead end and stopped caring in the following years” Sanae didn’t understand anything from the page Marisa was showing them, but it had pretty drawings, that much was certain.  
“Not you and Alice, I see” Aya said.  
“No no no, like we were telling you this morning, we are getting pretty close to discovering how to make mixed runes. A revolution in magic! Ha! Not bad for an ordinary magician and a puppeteer” Marisa proceed to laugh boisterously.  
“Let’s get out of here before we get caught”  
They proceed to do so, but soon realized they were walking in circles, despite undoing the same path they did to get there in the first place. After arriving for the third time to the same room of the library, they stopped to talk about their situation.  
“The wind does not blow here” was Aya‘s contribution.  
“Damn that asthmatic” was Marisa’s.  
“I don’t sense my goddess’ presence…” was Sanae’s.  
“We are trapped in a pocket universe. It must have been activated when we picked up the book. A pocket universe, seriously, Patchouly, seriously.”  
“And how bad is that?” asked Aya.  
“Not much, really. It’s more a pain in the ass than anything. We have to find the point that provides its magic power, destroy it and escape.“  
“I’m not an expert in the magic of Pocket Universes, but if we destroy the power source when we are inside will we not, like, die?”replied Sanae.  
“Nonononono, no, no, that does not work like that. You see, pocket univer”  
When they were still arguing about the technical details of their entrapment, a cold, loud shriek interrupted them.  
“Oh fuck she is here” said Marisa. _Everything was going so nice.I wanted to visit Reimu’s place before going to Alice’s_.  
“Who?” Sanae knew it; she knew that going with Aya means battle sooner or later. She clutched her gohei.  
“The young mistress of the Scarlet Mansion” Aya was perhaps the most happy of the trio, as she thought it would be a good training opportunity for Sanae.  
“The young mis…Flandre? Flandre? Flandre Scarlet?”  
“Yes, yes that Flandre.“  
“The psychopath little sister? Oh my godness we are going to die.”  
“Oh for fucks sake she is not a psychopath, she has her problems yeah okay but in the end she is a good girl” Marisa was the one that defended Flandre’s honor.  
“Maaaaaaaarisaaaaaa where are you? Flandre has been a good girl, so big sis has let her play with you all afternoon! Let's play auntie, let’s play together kyahahahhaa!”  
After the little devil spoke, Sanae gave a serious, stern look to Marisa  
“Ah no those are the words and laugh of a sane mind yes, Marisa tell me more. “  
“No, seriously trust me”  
“TO THE FLOOR” The crow grabbed both humans and threw them behind a table, just in time to cover them from the shrapnel that a sudden explosive library had made. From the dust emerged the figure of the person responsible of the chaos, the Sister of the Devil.  
“Maaaaarissaa?? “  
“Listen well, I’m gonna speak with her, start thinkin’ bout a plan meanwhile” Marisa grabbed her hat and leaned out of cover” Heeeeey Flan how it’s going, you are quite cheerful today.”  
“Marisa!” her red eyes sparkle with excitement” Let’s play together! Patchouli has told me that today we can do anything, it does not matter if we destroy things!”  
¨That bastard, that’s the purpose of the pocket universe. I should have known it¨ thought Marisa” Ahhh cool, do you want to play house?  
The vampire pouted” Bad Marisa, bad. You have not visited me in months! And I ‘ve been a good girl, I’ve do my homework, and” she suddenly stopped talking when she saw Sanae’s sleeve behind the table” Ohhhhhhhh I seeee you wanted to give me a surprise? That’s why you have brought some friends with you! I love you Marisa! I” before she could end speaking, Marisa threw her a magic smoke bomb, moment that the other two use for escaping. After running some meters, they regrouped behind yet another library.  
“Okay, ladies, we need a plan, now seriously. We can’t leave this place without findin’ the power source, and we can’t do that with a vampire on the loose.” Marisa started speaking.  
“Nice for you to say the OBVIOUS”  
“I’ve my hauchiwa and myself. I have asked the winds to distract her, but their power here is too low, so I don’t know how useful that’s gonna be.“  
“How good are you in close combat?”  
“I’m a tengu, few youkai can match us in close combat” boosted Aya.”  
“Pretty good? I always win Reimu when we train together.”  
“You defeat Reimu in close combat? That’s quite impressive.”  
Sanae omitted “when I managed to get close to her, that it’s never” from the previous sentence but hey little details without importance.  
“Good, my plan it’s to pin up her with danmaku so any of you can get closer and give her hell. Yes or no?”  
“It’s seems like a bulletproof plan for me. I will go, you Sanae get behind.”  
“Behind? Why?”  
“Because someone has to make the photos, or you rather go fight her? “  
Sanae looked behind the coverture, and saw Flandre far away, laughing and destroying everything, and conclude that it was better for her future plans of living until old to stay behind. She nodded. The other two then got out of cover and went towards their objective.  
Sanae wouldn’t remember much about the battle that ensued. She would only remember random scenes amidst the general chaos, the smoke, the fire and the danmaku. She would remember for example when one of the clones almost got her, her bare fangs grazing her face. Sanae was saved by her quick reflexes and the camera flash that blinded the vampire clone for the brief instant she needed to cut her with the gohei. She would remember the final bit of the fight, where Aya managed to get a direct hit in Flandre, a knee in her face that knocked down the vampire, chance Marisa used to shot a Master Spark at point blank range. She would remember carrying the unconscious vampire through the collapsing dimension. And nothing more. Not how the fire started, not any photo she took.

When they managed to escape, they were not surprised to see that Remilia Scarlet, along her friend Patchouli and the maid master Sakuya were waiting for them. They talked about the fight, but Sanae was to worried trying to process the fact that she had fight a vampire in a blazing library(that it was a pocket universe) to paid attention. Aya told her later that Remilia was very pleased with the photos they had taken, as her Little sister was quite happy in them. So she let them go, with stolen book and all.  
After leaving the Scarlet Mansion, Sanae followed Aya. She thought at first that they were coming back to the Youkai Mountain, to rest after such an intense day, but she was surprised when she saw that was not the case.  
“Aya, where are we going? It’s late, and I’m tired, I think it’s enough for my first day” She said in a quiet voice.  
“Ah but the night offers plenty of unique occasions for the photographer” Aya looked behind her, only to see Sanae’s desperate face”We are going to have some drinks at a friend’s place, quite relaxing trust me. I also believe that we had our daily action dose hahahaha.”  
Sanae resigned herself, what else could she do. It was dark when Aya made the sign to descend, in the middle of the forest that surrounded the youkai’s trail. Aya got behind a bush, and so did Sanae.  
“What are we doing, Aya.”  
“Shhhh silence, silence, we are near follow me try to not make any noise” Aya started crawling, and Sanae followed her first crouched then also crawling, after Aya looked at her somewhat angry. They soon reached the objective, a wooden cart resting in a side of the main road. It served as the building for a food stands, as the red lantern and the stools made clear. The wind was in their direction, so a nice smell of grilled eel reached them. The stand had at that moment two customers, a rabbit with pale lavender hair that Sanae recognized from parties and the moon expedition but that she had never talked with, and that swordswoman, youmu konpaku. They were in adjacent stools at the left side of the establishment, while the owner, a bird youkai, was at the right side behind the counter, doing something that Sanae couldn’t see too well. But what Sanae could see was a nice photo in the works, so she got her camera out and prepared to shoot, but Aya interrupted her.  
“Today you have learned the basics, but now you must try to tell a story with your works .What do you want to emphasize with your photo? What story do you want to tell? The story of those two tired friends that always come here , after a long work week, to share their sorrows and drinks?, the story of the bartender, a girl that serves drinks and food to her customers, always quick with the smile and the songs, only weapons she has to help those tired souls that come to her stand? “Aya whispered in Sanae’s ears, or perhaps it was the wind itself. Sanae was too focused in the photo that she didn’t bother to look behind. She closed her eyes, thought about what Aya had told her and when she was ready, she shot.  
“A good photo” Aya remarked” Perhaps your best photo.” It was the first time Aya had praised one of her photos, so Sanae was both proud and surprised” Now, do you want to go there and get something? I will pay; you sure have earned at least that today.”  
Sanae agreed, so both of them got up and went to the stand, where they were greeted by the customers and the owner.  
“Good night, lady Aya” said the night sparrow” May I ask who is your companion tonight?”  
“Sanae Kochiya, the head priestess of the Moriya Shrine. I’ve been teaching her photography”  
“That sounds like a fun plan. Drinks and food, or only drink?”  
“Both, it has been a long day. Do you like eel Sanae?”  
“Yes”  
“Oh then you are quite lucky, Mystia here prepares the best grilled eel in all of Gensokyo!”  
“Hell yeah she does. Cheers for our favorite chef!” that voice belonged to Youmu, that now in closer inspection looked quite drunk to Sanae.  
“You are going to make me blush. Here’s your booze, beer made with the finest wheat of the Garden of the Sun” Mystia served them two pints, but Sanae was more worried about the wheat’s origin.  
“The garden of the sun? I thought it was only a field of sunflowers.”  
“That’s what people believe, yes” replied Aya” but there’s a good chunk of terrain nearby that Yuuka Kazami uses as her own personal field. In fact, half of Gensokyo’s fruits and vegetables come from those fields, but many people don’t know it, perhaps for the best. “  
“A great pal, that Yuuka” Again, the gardener spoke” She always helps me with the flowers of the Netherworld, not like, my master.”  
“Ohh there’s a problem in the netherworld?” Aya changed her voice, opened her notebook and took out her pen.  
“Don’t mind her, she is tired and sleepy” The bunny spoke, probably trying to cover her friend before she talked more than she should. ¨But ahh, when Aya Shameimaru chooses her prey, she doesn’t let them go away. It’s too late for your friend, bun¨ Sanae said to herself  
“Of course there’s a problem! Damn master doesn’t want to pay extra hands!”  
The bun breathed out a defeated sigh and gave another gulp to her glass  
“Interesting, tell me more, tell me more I’m listening.”  
And certainly she did so. She explained to them how lonely she was, that the netherworld garden was too big for her to look after and that she only wanted an assistant but her master didn’t agree. They learned that Yuuka Kazami helped from time to time, and also Reisen (that was the bun’s name) but that the latter also had her problems at home, like the fact that she really didn’t know how she had ended being the responsible of all the moon bunnies that were left behind in the last summer.  
“I don’t have time for almost anything. In the morning I help my master with the clinic, then I go to the human village to sell medicine, in the afternoon I must check the moon rabbits, that let me tell you and perhaps it’s bad from my part, but they are a pain in the ass, seriously. There it’s one in particular, Lieutenant Rin Kanazawa that’s an imbecile. No, listen, the other day the girl comes and says to me…”  
They spoke and spoke all night long. They jumped from that to the moon’s adventure, where Sanae and Reisen told her anecdotes of that crazy incident, then about Aya and Sanae’s days, then they asked Mystia to sing a song, ¨Siren¨, then back again to those mysterious possessions that were happening lately… It was a fun night, but after the third pint Sanae felt that it was time to go, that tomorrow was another day. She didn’t walk two meters from the stand that she passed out, all fatigue finally getting her. Aya paid, said goodbye to them and picked up Sanae. She carried her not to her house, but Aya’s instead where she put her to sleep in her bed, while she slept in the couch.  
That’s how the first day of Sanae’s adventures as a learning photographer ended. The next month was always different in events, but same in spirit. They went all over Gensokyo taking photos, from the Youkai Mountain to the Garden of the Sun, from Heaven to Hell. They took photos of natural landscapes, of buildings, of youkai and men, of danmaku, of people working and parties… Sanae managed in only month to recover all the lost time, so when the New Year came she had already a photo album to be proud of.

**Author's Note:**

> I want to thank my proofreaders and friends Jaime and Spark, for helping during these two weeks. Also to the nice people in Tumblr, Amemenojaku and Purple Scales who has organised the Secret Santa one year more.


End file.
